Kaliphlin Guild: Homepage, Sign-up and Discussion

[NiceMarmot]

NiceMarmot - great to hear your ideas about Kaliphlin geography, your knowledge of these things continues to amaze me!

So if I understand correctly - Gorr would most likely be:

Central - desert

North - sandy beaches, Mediterranean climate

East - Rainy, rocky

South - mangrove swamps and jungle

Southwest - cliffs

If so, that sounds good to me! I am happy to roll with this, that gives me plenty of diversity. One thing to add is that surrounding the deserts is an area of savannah - reasonably dry but with scattered grassland.

Sounds good to me. Savannas are probably mostly between Stone Town and the desert I would think. I'm working on a 4x zoom in map of the south-central Siccus, covering from about Akhenaten to Stone Town, and from the southern tip of Gorr to just north of Erezhi. It will be about 8 pixels to the mile, so plenty of room for towns and smaller geographical features and some MOCs.

Before you get too attached to all of Gorr , we might need to position some newer guildmembers there too, like in the eastern and southern portions, as things start to fill up. But there should be plenty of room for everyone. I like the idea of an emir for all of Gorr (but that's SI-Mocs' call), maybe his authority is a bit more tenuous in the east and far south however...

[NiceMarmot]

Greetings fellow guildmembers!

I've just returned from a trip up north to check on our defenses north of Qarkyr. They are really shaping up well! Halvard's round white tower is an amazing piece of military architecture. Yakob the Red has built a very nice small watchtower to keep watch over a key mountain pass in the Rakath. And Kcaj Nosnikta has built a beautiful tower to guard where the Qarkyr-Cedrica road descends the escarpment; it's a classic piece of desert architecture.

I also visited an old outpost high up on Mt Agnathka in the Rakath mountains that keeps watch over the plains below the escarpment, and the high mountain valleys. It's quite high up; must be close to 13,000 ft, and I'll tell you, ol' Gex is not as young as he used to be -- I was exhausted after climbing up there. It's primitive and isolated, but the view is outstanding and our sentries are top-notch. Please read my trip report here.

Loyally yours in Kaliphlin, Gex

Mt Agnathka Lookout - front

[Basiliscus]

NiceMarmot, I would never be as presumptuous to take a Lordship over an area without Lord Flagg's approval! Lovely tower too mate!

That's fine anyway, I don't want to Lord over anyone else, just give me a piece of land to work with because I have quite a few ideas for my next MOCs. I am quite happy with Stone Town and a small area around that - I just need a small area of savannah and desert. Besides, I don't see why we can't build anywhere within Kaliphlin - I have a few ideas for non-Sudite MOCs too.

I want to build up Stone Town a bit and show it off - right after I finish the Emir's army so the other guilds know not to mess with us Kaliphlinians!

PS - I am away with work 11th - 16th December and might not have internet access - just to let you all know!

[NiceMarmot]

That's fine anyway, I don't want to Lord over anyone else, just give me a piece of land to work with because I have quite a few ideas for my next MOCs. I am quite happy with Stone Town and a small area around that - I just need a small area of savannah and desert. Besides, I don't see why we can't build anywhere within Kaliphlin - I have a few ideas for non-Sudite MOCs too.

Exactly, like I think Gex hangs out mostly on the south central coast across the straits from the Spice Islands, but I've just posted an MOC for the northern Rakath Mtns today. And I'm pondering another watchtower in the Wither Woods if I have time. As for Gex's home town, it's not like I have enough bricks to model even a small village, much less a decent city or a whole province. I might ask your opinion of anything I wanted to build in Stone Town, but for random builds out in the countryside somewhere, just have at it! The more MOCs the better! The Avalonians seem to be staking out territory and borders for their own little fiefdoms, and I don't think we want to get caught up in that kind of thing. I'd say everyone gets to pick (or create) a town or part of a city and have a primary role in building it out. If one wants to build in someone's primary town, at least let them know and get their opinion first. Anything else is fair game, as long as you respect the story and style of any neighboring MOCs that have come before you.

[SkaForHire]

We definitely have the best cartographer. NiceMarmot, you rock man. I like your descriptions, the way things are starting to come together I think we have something very special here.

To our Kaliphlin brothers and sisters, I had a successful pick a brick raid which left me with some building supplies and I should have a tower up soon. However, I did learn something from a kind Lego employee that I wanted to share with you all. The game Ramses Pyramid is on sale through Lego for $9.99 (US) In that game, you get a tan 32x32! and about 100 assorted tan pieces. I was speaking with the employee about building watchtowers in tans, and he pointed out this great deal to me. Most Lego stores are overstocked with this game, so you can pick up more than a couple if need be. So if you are short tan base plates, this is a great opportunity (in the states at least).

MstrOfPppts, great idea for jungle temples; looking forward to seeing some of those.

Maybe I should lay out my understanding of our geography and biomes, so we're all on the same page. I'm certainly open to feedback on this, and my goal is to make us as geographically diverse as possible (even though Siccus Badlands are smaller than California overall probably).

Desert - Obviously a lot of the central area is desert. Remember that not all desert is the same -- there are lots of different types of desert: nothing but sand, dunes, rocky deserts, hilly and rocky deserts, semi-desert, etc. I'm guessing the Parched Lands, the Dune Sea, and the Gorr desert are the driest. I've heard the Gorr desert is very desolate, probably rocky. Surrounding the deserts to some degree will be an area of chaparral and scrub, especially along the southern coasts.

Mediterranean - I see a Mediterranean-type ecosystem and climate along the southern coasts, from the southern end of the Rakath Mtns to the Akhenaten Delta, and then again from western edge of the Akhenaten Delta to approximately across the straits from Stone Town (a cape/point I've called Hawkshead on my nascent detailed map). Likewise, the area around Stone Town in the NW corner of Gorr and along the northern coast of Gorr might be Mediterranean also.

Mangrove Swamps - the southern edges of the Akhenaten Delta, and scattered points along the southern coast wherever rivers meet the ocean from Barqa to Hawkshead, and where the River Zenagi meets the ocean on Gorr.

Jungle - Most of the Akhenaten Delta (except the mangroves along the coast). Southern Gorr, especially around the River Zenagi. The Spice Islands. Some of the coast south of Barqa towards Hawkshead.

Plains, Savannas, and Grasslands - The lands surrounding the Arkbri and Qar-Akhen Rivers are savannas and seasonally flooded savannas in the middle and south, giving way to more temperate grasslands for the northern third. The land between Barqa and the Red River is mostly plains. The lands at the foot of the Great Escarpment are also plains and grasslands, as are the lower western slopes of the Rakath, and the area between the Wither Woods and the unnamed desert west of the Arkbri.

Broadleaf Forests - The forests on either side of the Red River. Maybe some scattered forests below (north of) the Great Escarpment. Probably some on the eastern slopes down near Cape Dahaka.

Coniferous Forests - The east-central and northeast slopes and coast of the Rakath. The north/west portions of the Wither Woods.

Alpine - High in the Rakath mountains. More in the northern Rakath, less in the southern Rakath. Deep in the northern Rakath, near where the Great Escarpment starts, we can probably have a few glaciers.

Some other geographic / climatic notes:

• Snow - the highest peaks of the northern Rakath are snowbound all year long, and there are a few glaciers in the highest mountain valleys here. The rest of the Rakath gets snow during the winter; less in the winter. The northwest coast gets very little snow, as it has temperate rainforest climate similar to Washington state and British Columbia. The Wither Woods and surrounding plains also get some winter snow; they probably have a climate similar to northern or central France, or maybe the mid-Atlantic US.
  
• Rain - lots in the northeast coast, and the eastern slopes of the Rakath. I guess our prevailing winds are out of the east, and they pick up moisture from the ocean and dump it as snow and rain on the Rakath. A little bit of rain on the western slopes of the Rakath, and some on the south coast (10-20 inches/yr). The Spice Islands get a lot, as does eastern Gorr. Barqa gets a reasonable amount, maybe around 25 inches/yr, increasing as you move up the western coast. The Wither Woods are pretty temperate, maybe getting 40-60 inches/yr. The jungle areas obviously get a lot more.
  
• Canyons and Gorges - we've got them. I don't know where yet. Lots of smaller ones probably. Maybe one big one somewhere, like along the upper reaches of the Lick of Salt?
  
• Volcanoes - Cape Dahaka, Mt Erezhi, plus a few in the Spice Islands, which are tropical islands of volcanic origin. Most of the Spice Islands volcanoes are dormant or extinct, but a few are intermittently active.
  
• Cliffs - Obviously the Great Escarpment is one. The coast from Cape Dahaka north to Nocturnus has a lot of cliffs. The southwest coast of Gorr (perhaps the "Forbidden Coast"?) is mostly cliff. There are intermittent areas of cliffs on the south central and south eastern coasts.
  
• Fjords - Lots of them in the northeastern coast.
  
• Swamps - The Akhenaten Delta. Maybe other places too. Somewhere below (north of) the Great Escarpment might be a good spot too.
  
• Beaches - The best beaches are in the Spice Islands. Other areas with good beaches are the south central Siccus coast, the northern coast of Gorr, a few around Barqa, and on the islands on the western edge of the Inland Sea.
  
• Rivers and Lakes - Mostly in west, from just east of Barqa to the Avalonian border.
  
• Waterfalls - We need some. Tell me where the biggest ones are. Probably at least a few pouring into the fjords in the east.
  
• Caverns - Yeah, we got 'em. Not sure where. Probably anywhere we want them, except the swamps.
  
• Hills - As indicated on the map, plus foothills of any of the mountains on the map. Probably additional hills as needed anywhere we want, except the swamps.
  

Hopefully that gives you all plenty of leeway for lots of different MOCs! Feedback and suggestions welcomed. Maybe once it settles down a bit, SI-Mocs can put this description in the first post, along with the other descriptive information about Kaliphlin and Siccus.

[NiceMarmot]

We definitely have the best cartographer. NiceMarmot, you rock man. I like your descriptions, the way things are starting to come together I think we have something very special here.

Thanks! I appreciate it. I think it having a good map and descriptions helps to really set the context, and hopefully spur MOC ideas. I don't want it to be a one-man show however, so everyone should feel free to make suggestions and I'll try to find a way to fit them in.

The game Ramses Pyramid is on sale through Lego for $9.99 (US) In that game, you get a tan 32x32! and about 100 assorted tan pieces.

Yes, I bought six of these. This is a great deal since those tan baseplates typically go for close to $10 on BrickLink by themselves. You also get a lot of tan bricks, and some dark tan bricks, a bunch of chalices, two scorpions, micro-mummies, and six dark-tan 2x2 domes. It's a Kaliphlin bonanza!

[Basiliscus]

Exactly, like I think Gex hangs out mostly on the south central coast across the straits from the Spice Islands, but I've just posted an MOC for the northern Rakath Mtns today. And I'm pondering another watchtower in the Wither Woods if I have time. As for Gex's home town, it's not like I have enough bricks to model even a small village, much less a decent city or a whole province. I might ask your opinion of anything I wanted to build in Stone Town, but for random builds out in the countryside somewhere, just have at it! The more MOCs the better! The Avalonians seem to be staking out territory and borders for their own little fiefdoms, and I don't think we want to get caught up in that kind of thing. I'd say everyone gets to pick (or create) a town or part of a city and have a primary role in building it out. If one wants to build in someone's primary town, at least let them know and get their opinion first. Anything else is fair game, as long as you respect the story and style of any neighboring MOCs that have come before you.

Yeah, I've been looking in the Avalonia thread and things seemed to be getting a bit out-of-hand, I don't think we need any of that carry on here. I think it maybe makes more sense for them as I imagine Avalonia to be more like a feudal land where each Lord has his own land. Kaliphlin, being more Arabic/Indian (as I see it anyway!) doesn't need such strict boundaries.

I don't think anyone needs "permission" (as such) to build in another's territory - e.g. if someone wants to build in Stone Town I certainly won't stop them! However, it should try and fit in with the theme of the place to keep the canon consistent. You've mentioned this already above (sort of).

The facts are that we want to work together as a team to make Kaliphlin the best guild (after all it is a quasi-contest). My only worry about this system of taking land from other guilds is how do you make it fair? For example, if Avalonia take land from us will it be near their border? Then people who have decided to make Kaliphlin MOCs there are short-changed. I just have a horrible feeling that if it isn't managed right then people could throw in the towel if they suddenly find their city under enemy occupation. Maybe SI-mocs can elaborate further...

SkaForHire - thanks for that tip! I don't have one of those sets but I'll keep my eyes peeled...

And I second your comment on NiceMarmot's awesome maps - he definitely got the Skills to Pay The Bills! Word!

[NiceMarmot]

My only worry about this system of taking land from other guilds is how do you make it fair?

I didn't know about any 'taking of land from other guilds'; I must have missed that post. Would that be as a prize for winning a contest or something? If so, I agree, there are definitely some potential problems there. Better to just use imaginary jewels and gold, titles, special artifacts, etc as prizes.

[Basiliscus]

I didn't know about any 'taking of land from other guilds'; I must have missed that post. Would that be as a prize for winning a contest or something? If so, I agree, there are definitely some potential problems there. Better to just use imaginary jewels and gold, titles, special artifacts, etc as prizes.

There hasn't been an official announcement about it or anything, but in the Avalonia guild thread it's being talked about so I presume one of the organisers let it slip. SI-mocs hasn't said anything about it yet, so I don't think anyone should over-think it until he does. I'm just curious about how it will work, but I presume that this announcement will be made after the tower challenge.

My understanding is there will be challenges over the course of a year but I am not sure when the guilds will be officially "at war" (which I presume will happen eventually) - it would be good if there were a few more challenges with them at peace so we can build up our settlements before the war begins!

[mikey]

I am really liking the idea of some 'Jungle' climate to build in, and it does fit with our desert theme - if we are getting enough sun to produce desert, then that sun combined with enough rain is going to produce lush vegetation. MstrOfPppts you have provided some great inspiration, so far I have been thinking Babylonian/ Persian/ Byzantine, but now I am thinking Inca/ Maya (and more)!

As for this 'taking land' nonsense - firstly they will have to get past our watchtowers (we have some strong defences already, and I am sure we will see some more entries before the deadline), secondly even if they did gain a temporary foothold they can't take our bricks.

[NiceMarmot]

secondly even if they did gain a temporary foothold they can't take our bricks.

"You can pry my bricks from my cold, dead, yellow curved ABS 983's!"

Edited December 9, 2011 by NiceMarmot

[J4ke]

^lol

I was hoping the whole "territories" thing was going to be brought up, if only so I could say that I'm against it. (I'm also against title-whoring, but that's all that Adonii(SP?) kid's fault, lol). The way I'm playing this game is simple... if I want to build something, I will, whatever or wherever it is. That's why I have a desert watchtower, a desert seige workshop, and a WIP snow watchtower. Oh, and a mountain Griffin. (I think... I haven't quite worked out where Griffins live, but mountains make sense). My point is, we can't have a decent variety if we're constrained to a small area somewhere.

But yeah, looks like we of Kaliphlin are of similar opinion, so I'll stop my ranting and raving now. Back to landscaping the snow, (snowscaping?) which is far more difficult than I had anticipated.

-YtR

[CptMugwash]

Lol NM.

I totally agree, it's one of the many reasons why I joined this guild it's the freedom to be able to create whatever you want and we're not just limited to the desert because I was getting a bit sick of tan, I've currently got another watchtower ready to be photographed so I'll get it up tomorrow then I'm away for 10 days. My second tower will be up in the Rakath mountains close to the border of Nocturnus. I've also got a few ideas for mocs but I won't say much yet.

[SkaForHire]

^lol

I was hoping the whole "territories" thing was going to be brought up, if only so I could say that I'm against it. (I'm also against title-whoring, but that's all that Adonii(SP?) kid's fault, lol). The way I'm playing this game is simple... if I want to build something, I will, whatever or wherever it is. That's why I have a desert watchtower, a desert seige workshop, and a WIP snow watchtower. Oh, and a mountain Griffin. (I think... I haven't quite worked out where Griffins live, but mountains make sense). My point is, we can't have a decent variety if we're constrained to a small area somewhere.

But yeah, looks like we of Kaliphlin are of similar opinion, so I'll stop my ranting and raving now. Back to landscaping the snow, (snowscaping?) which is far more difficult than I had anticipated.

-YtR

Couple things, First I agree, we at Kaliphlin seem to be in agreement about our laid-back approach to creating a cool guild. I am really glad I chose this guild, although my pieces at the time of choosing screamed Avalonia. I also am in agreement about the titles. I don't think we need more than a few personally. "Lord of Eastgate" works for me, I see some of us have fashioned ourselves knights and what not. That makes sense. I can see by the end if we all had a few more... but let's keep the extravagant ones to a minimum, ok?

As for land taking - I have read almost every post about the whole competition, and the guild threads (yeah, you can bet my dissertation is coming along really well, eh?) and it seems that it has been floated that guild lands would be taken in conflicts. I also agree about the "can't take my bricks" speech. That being said, I fully anticipated when choosing where I wanted to "lord over" that it could be taken by Avalonia (not without a fight, I do have an extensive minifig army). However, if it was taken, I think that creates a unique chance to create resistance MOCs. Guys jumping out of trees onto Avalonians, maybe a burning of an enemy village. I always have my navy, and we could become pirates without a home... something along that lines. I think gaining / losing territory just gives guild members more challenges.

Lastly, as for building in other people's "territories" I think Basiliscus has the right idea... go ahead and build wherever. Although I created this idea of Eastgate, I hope others might make some MOCs in it too. I will post my rudimentary map of the city later tonight. I kind of envision it as a blend between our culture and that of Avalonia, being near the border - thus more classic European castle structures mixed with Mediterranean and Arab structures. I was hoping to make some buildings in other people's "territory" also. I wanted to make a GEAR CO chapter house for every city in Kaliphlin, and the major cities of the other guilds. Also, I assume eventually we will do something like the Avalonians capital scheme. Although, their capital is pretty puny in size for a medieval city.

[Waterbrick Down]

I think I fall pretty much in agreement with you all, I'm not much for claiming my own space, I'll probably build more in the Qarkyr mountains, but when I do go further out I plan on adapting my style to fit whatever the local architecture/culture/minifigs are to fit the canon. I'm with Ska that the chance of land being taken away gives us a ton of new possibilities, everything from building resistance Mocs, or dare I say switching over to another guild for a while until our land is reclaimed. However if none of us are really cemented to a region, then we shouldn't have any problem relocating and working on building up another section of the guild.

At long last my lord Flagg, I just received a message via Qarkyr griffin that the tower I mentioned earlier has been fully restored and is overseeing one of the many trade routes running through the Rakath Mountains between Kaliphlin and Nocturnus.

Full Topic

I plan on doing quite a bit of traveling these next few weeks escorting an oil shipment from some of the Southern Dwarf clans' refineries. I will report to you of any findings of significance as I traverse our great land.

-Capt. Hardiel

[Si-MOCs]

Kcaj what a fantastic calvary! Some great shaping - and the claws are particularly good - though the head I think could use a bit of work.

Mikey Excellent tower - the clean and simple very well executed. Fantastic work, these shall be a wonderful addition to our defenses.

Erudhalion welcome back from your travels! We greatly look forward to your return and seeing more from you.

Velethuil Nice upgrade on your previous version - The background was a nice touch :)

MstrOfPppts Welcome! We hope that you will make the decision to align with us - don't forget we will be at this for awhile... and we'll need all the good people we can get.

Master Cartographer Tafik - some fantastic geographical points ... let's us narrow it down a bit and i"ll post it up on the front page :)

I'm personally looking forward to building some Cliffs/Escarpments...

And it is good to see you have completed your tower! I really like the blending of the building in the the background. While it's not as vibrant as some of our other builds it has a very utilitarian and bleak feel to it - exactly what one would expect in remote areas.

Abū Alī I would be honoured if we could read some of your work. the book itself looks fantastic, and I'm sure this is a case where you can indeed judge a book by it's fantastically built cover

Wahil my friend... where do I start? This is an absolutely incredible build... I think you currently have the best tower in the guild ... if not the entire Historica!

really great job. You even put in trans blue on the bottom I'm assuming you don't have sufficient trans dark blue tiles to cover up the studs?

To be fair - I am not too familiar with some of the claims in the lands far away from the capital - in fact there have been instance of multiple parties having claim over the same land... But our land is vast and there is room for all, so I do not forsee much problems with land ownership.

As for other guilds taking OUR lands or moving boarders - well as long as the High King Darconian is alive, there shall be no such repurposing of land. Any who is stupid enough to try to wage war will be meet with the King's men as well as the other Guilds.

Cpt Hardiel Fantastic restoration! Truly it was worth the wait to see it fully restored to it's previous majesty. So many nice elements - especially that rock work makes this a really nice moc - not just the tower but the over all scene is well done!

--

I think as a general rule of thumb for Kaliphlin - is instead of staking a claim on land and building your own little area - why not have anyone and everyoen build in anywhere and everywhere? Instead of everyone building their own little things, I would encourage you to build in multiple areas. One of the original rationals behind this entire adventure (Besides building some fantastic collaborative builds) is to try to push people to build something new and different outside of their comfort zone ... so why not try to exemplify that? and purposefully try to spread some of our building around?

Someone may have created or started building a new unique place - if it tickles someone's fancy or gives them inspiration, why not have someone build another moc that would fit into that quasi-established area?

[Basiliscus]

I have been away for some time. I was hiding in my study chamber in order to write some chapters in my

Book of Kaliphlin

Meant to say Christoph, what a beautiful job you did with that book! I seemed to miss it first time round, but it looks great, and having it in that scale is a brilliant idea!

As for land taking - I have read almost every post about the whole competition, and the guild threads (yeah, you can bet my dissertation is coming along really well, eh?) and it seems that it has been floated that guild lands would be taken in conflicts. I also agree about the "can't take my bricks" speech. That being said, I fully anticipated when choosing where I wanted to "lord over" that it could be taken by Avalonia (not without a fight, I do have an extensive minifig army). However, if it was taken, I think that creates a unique chance to create resistance MOCs. Guys jumping out of trees onto Avalonians, maybe a burning of an enemy village. I always have my navy, and we could become pirates without a home... something along that lines. I think gaining / losing territory just gives guild members more challenges.

Good point SkaForHire - some resistance MOCs would be a good idea! The only point I wanted to make was that if someone spends ages building up their vision of a city then it gets burned down during enemy occupation they might not be too happy! But I agree that we should be encouraging others in the guild to build everywhere (everyone is welcome in Stone Town!). That way everyone gets a share in creating the Kaliphlin vision!

At long last my lord Flagg, I just received a message via Qarkyr griffin that the tower I mentioned earlier has been fully restored and is overseeing one of the many trade routes running through the Rakath Mountains between Kaliphlin and Nocturnus.

Lovely work Waterbrick Down - fantastic entry to our guild! I won't repeat my comments in the main thread other than to say I love it!

Wahil my friend... where do I start? This is an absolutely incredible build... I think you currently have the best tower in the guild ... if not the entire Historica!

really great job. You even put in trans blue on the bottom I'm assuming you don't have sufficient trans dark blue tiles to cover up the studs?

My Lord, I am but your humble servant! The Emir built the tower based on Bahru's design, he is becoming quite the architect I must say - these old bones have little to show him these days! I hope to show off more of Stone Town but I have to do some travelling over the next 7 nights - my pigeons might be able to find you, or they may not. Time will tell.

Your will is iron, Lord.

Wahil

*****

Thanks for the comment! Yes, I had some difficulty with the design because of the 32x32 restriction. I would recommend in future that the limit is set to 48x48 or 32x64 (or bigger!) as they do in the CCC. I wanted to show more of the landscape around the tower but the SNOT base for the tower alone is 16x16 so I didn't quite capture everything I wanted (despite what it might look like it does fit on a 32x32 base). You are correct about trans-blue tiles - I have 3 1x2 tiles! My wife would divorce me if I bought any more on Bricklink, but I thought it looked cool with the studs showing as the water wouldn't be smooth. I think the whole Kaliphlin guild has done a great job so far in setting the scene, now I just think we need a few more free builds. My tower is just one of many and I am proud when I see the standard everyone has set!

And with regard to your other comment - yes I would encourage others to build everywhere, the gates of Stone Town are open to anyone who can pay the Emir's tithe!

Edited December 10, 2011 by Basiliscus

[CptMugwash]

Greetings fellow members, I kcaj Nosnikta present to you my second watchtower, situated in the Rakath Mountains on the Nocturnian border this tower stands tall keeping watch. Built on top of a volcano a lava moat surrounds it, the tower is crafted from locally sourced solid obsidian with some friendly dwarven help.

More photos on my Flickr

Topic here.

Thanks

Kcaj

Also, my character Kcaj and his builders wander around the Siccus Badlands going where work is needed, I didn't want to constrict myself to just desert mocs. Y'know I'm really pleased for joining this guild and thanks for having me, I'm thoroughly enjoying this experience and I love all the mocs coming out of this guild, you're all great builders!

[SkaForHire]

Hey all,

Those are some nice looking towers going up!

I have a question for you all, maybe someone has experience with this. This may be hard to explain, and my camera is funky right now. I am trying to put forced perspective into my MOC. Currently, I have a rough wall that represents the escarpment, and I am going to build the tower over hanging that wall / cliff. However, I am clearly not going to build a 10' (3 meters + ) wall to represent the actual size of the escarpment. I was thinking that I could just put nothing down there so it represents further space below the MOC, but with my base-plate, that seems like a lot of wasted space and that the escarpment is a mere 10" tall rather than a continuing cliff. I thought about putting a micro village and a river at the bottom on the open baseplate... but when I do this, I can't really make it look like the cliff is larger than represented. So, I was wondering if anyone had forced perspective tips or tricks they would be willing to share?

[CptMugwash]

Hi Ska, I'm not an expert with forced perspective but I think it sounds alright so far, a micro village would look nice and should create the illusion you're looking for, if it doesn't look right then just get rid of it, start with a short cliff face with no baseplate so that is the edge of the cliff, similar to my new tower and more with Basil's red tower where they have a cut out effect, some times it's easier to do this then try to do a forced perspective but just keep trying and experimenting I'm sure you'll get it.

[robuko]

What an excellent fellowship is the Guild of Kaliphlin!

Miss Templeton Smyth, our Kaliphlin route manager and Chief Logisitcs Officer, expresses her gratitude for the widely shared sentiments that our towns and cities are open to all. The Petrea General Trading Company is a tree with many roots, and maintains a myriad of fine buildings in all the major centres, by the permission of my Lords, as well an an extensive presence across this beautiful land. We are of course based in Petrea, and the guest rooms of our Head Quarters are always open to all Guild members.

We are seeing more great builds from Kaliphlin recently.

Kcaj Nosnikta, your modular builds are so cool. Love the lava and the colours.

Wahil, my friend, your Red Tower lighthouse is quite the Wonder of the Southern isles. Captain Marcus tells us it has saved his cargo and crew many times, and it is one of the most noteable buildings in all the land. I should say too, your Sultan and his harem is renowned and admired even in Petrea for their noble bearing and looks.

Captain Hardiel, congratulations on the restoration of your watch tower.

Gex, Mt Agnathka is a mighty climb, congratulations on getting anything up there, let alone a full refuge. I believe I have seen some maps of our land featuring our caverns, deserts, mountains, and yes, even a jungle near the Delta.

Abu Ali, we would love to read some chapters of your famous book, you have added so much to Kaliphlin`s trade with just one social visit!

Velethuil, the sun-bleached images off your shelter are very evocative, I feel the heat when I look at them!

Our Heliotropic glass manufactory should be fully operational before midnight, we will post some sketches as soon as our artists have recovered from their night before.

yours Aye,

Rasputin

ps If any of our American friends would be kind enough to pick up a discounted $10 Ramses Pyramid for posting to HK, please send me a PM, it sounds a great deal.

[J4ke]

A snowstorm rages...

Or 88% opacity on a white layer above the pic...

There's some changes I want to make to the snow on some roofing bits, but other than that it's done. Unfortunately, by the time I'd finished it was too dark. Pics either tomorrow or Monday.

Good news! My explorations in the Rakath Mountains were assailed by appalling weather. Luckily, I made it to one of the watch outposts just as I was starting to get a little chilly. For now I will rest, for the journey has been long. Tomorrow I hope to explore further!

-YtR

[NiceMarmot]

I have a question for you all, maybe someone has experience with this. This may be hard to explain, and my camera is funky right now. I am trying to put forced perspective into my MOC. Currently, I have a rough wall that represents the escarpment, and I am going to build the tower over hanging that wall / cliff. However, I am clearly not going to build a 10' (3 meters + ) wall to represent the actual size of the escarpment. I was thinking that I could just put nothing down there so it represents further space below the MOC, but with my base-plate, that seems like a lot of wasted space and that the escarpment is a mere 10" tall rather than a continuing cliff. I thought about putting a micro village and a river at the bottom on the open baseplate... but when I do this, I can't really make it look like the cliff is larger than represented. So, I was wondering if anyone had forced perspective tips or tricks they would be willing to share?

I think I understand what you want to do. I haven't tried it myself, but I think the key will be keeping the top of the cliff and the tower in focus, while making the bottom part of the cliff and the microscale landscape below a bit out of focus. If it's all in focus, it won't probably won't look right. If you can achieve this look with your camera that's great. You could try turning on the 'macro' focus feature, and forcing a fast shutter speed and/or wide/low aperture to make the lens only focus on the foreground. If you can't control the shutter or aperture, try using macro and forcing the ISO as low as possible, like 80 or 100. Or you can take the best photo you can, and then fuzz / blur that part of the photo using an image/photo editing tool.

Otherwise, Captn Mugwash's idea of losing the baseplate altogether is fine. I didn't use a baseplate for my mountain lookout MOC, and I think it turned out fine. I did merge it with a photo to help really show how high it was. Good Luck!

[SkaForHire]

I think I understand what you want to do. I haven't tried it myself, but I think the key will be keeping the top of the cliff and the tower in focus, while making the bottom part of the cliff and the microscale landscape below a bit out of focus. If it's all in focus, it won't probably won't look right. If you can achieve this look with your camera that's great. You could try turning on the 'macro' focus feature, and forcing a fast shutter speed and/or wide/low aperture to make the lens only focus on the foreground. If you can't control the shutter or aperture, try using macro and forcing the ISO as low as possible, like 80 or 100. Or you can take the best photo you can, and then fuzz / blur that part of the photo using an image/photo editing tool.

Otherwise, Captn Mugwash's idea of losing the baseplate altogether is fine. I didn't use a baseplate for my mountain lookout MOC, and I think it turned out fine. I did merge it with a photo to help really show how high it was. Good Luck!

Well, I finished it... I will break out the DSLR tomorrow, I have some fast glass that is really good with the Bokah (sp) on the back end, so I should be able to do this. I was referring to building in forced perspective, but you are right, it is all about viewing angle with forced perspective, not so much about the building itself. So, this tower / escarpment is nearly 3 feet tall... Too tired to post any preliminary pics right now other than a cruddy camera pic, but with good light tomorrow I will do a photo shoot.

Guild preview:

IMAG0163 by princeofska, on Flickr

Ok bed time, I will post the full round up tomorrow.

[robuko]

Well, I finished it...

Lovely Tower, SkaForHire! Love the micro town and oasis too!

I have a few ideas on building for forced perspective that may help. I would think of a vanishing point somewhere below the base of the canyon, and try to aim for that by using a few methods:

You could make the top of the tower wider than the base, and/or have the bluff overhanging the town at the bottom - eg the tower is further towards the camera, compared to the base.

In general, you can see less detail further away, and things look smaller. You can go for this effect by using plates instead of bricks at the bottom, and by using shorter bricks (I will post specific examples on your flickr, if you make me a contact). Your brick patterning is similar at the top and the bottom, which makes it look a similar height, and the pattern details at the base of the tower look a bit too big compared to the top. I think it would look good to use more vertical-type patterning at the base as only vertical details will be strongly visible at that distance.

I love the windows overlooking the ravine - though I think they would look better if they are higher up, nearer the tower.